gmhTODAY 13 gmhToday March April 2017 - Page 60

Laney Bisbee
Professional Archery…
Alive in South County
L
aney Bisbee doesn’t like to
speak of his international
awards from his archery hobby,
all of which he’s earned since
he moved to Morgan Hill five years
ago. Instead, the engineer and CEO of
Structural Associates, Inc. (SI) credits
his recent success as a bowman to the
support of the South County community
—the archery clubs in particular—for
drawing him and his wife, Sue, into their
embrace.
Bisbee’s journey with archery began
when he was living in Tennessee after
college, and the deer hunting law
prohibited him from going onto state
property until the first day of deer
season. But archery season started one
month earlier, allowing him to scout the
area and hunt deer with a bow. Back
then, a local archery club drew him in.
“Before I knew it, I was learning and
traveling around shooting tournaments.”
Then in 1980, he left Chattanooga and
dropped the sport.
“I forgot about it,” Bisbee said, until
he moved to Morgan Hill and found
his old bow in a box. He pulled it out,
thinking, “That might be kind of fun.”
He played around with the bow awhile
and eventually joined a couple of local
archery clubs that shoot at Mount
Madonna.
One such club is Predators, a Gilroy
club and archery services business owned
by Curtis Campisi and Mike Pierce.
When Bisbee first took out his bow at
Predators, he said, “people laughed at
the age of the bow.” Bisbee also belongs
to Black Mountain Bowmen in San Jose.
“Both clubs really embrace people who
want to try their hand at archery whether
it’s for fun, competition, or hunting.”
“Without having picked up a bow
since my 20’s, I was able to place
nationally, along with my wife and many
others, because of their support and
training. They brought my wife and I
into that community.”
Now, more than three years later,
Bisbee is actively supported by Predators
and traveling the world with his wife
shooting at national and world events.
Written By Amy McElroy
60
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
MARCH/APRIL 2017
gmhtoday.com